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Our articles provide in-depth analysis and commentary on legislation and policy developments that impact Muslim communities in the UK. We produce briefings, legal responses, and research-led insights to inform public debate, support advocacy efforts, and equip allies with accurate, accessible information.

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· August 11, 2025 ·

1 min read

#Equality#Justice & Accountability#Human Rights#Inclusion

M-Legal Responds to Government’s Equality Law Call for Evidence

M-Legal has submitted detailed evidence to the Government’s Equality Law Call for Evidence, which is examining whether current legislation — particularly the Equality Act 2010 — is fit for purpose in tackling persistent inequalities.

 

Our submission focuses on where the law fails to fully protect Muslim communities, particularly in areas such as equal pay, harassment protections, and intersectional discrimination. Drawing on our legal expertise, case law, and engagement with affected communities, we highlight specific provisions in the Equality Act that result in unequal treatment and propose practical reforms to close these gaps.

 

Our Position

 

The Equality Act 2010 was intended to harmonise protections across protected characteristics. However, it does not provide equivalent protection for Muslims as it does for other ethno-religious groups, such as Jews and Sikhs, despite the well documented reality of racialised religious bigotry faced by Muslims.

 

This exclusion is most visible in:

 

  • The omission of multi-ethnic religious groups like Muslims from the statutory definition of race under s9 Equality Act.
  • The absence of equal pay provisions for religion or belief, leaving Muslim workers without the same pay transparency or remedies available for gender, race, or disability.
  • Gaps in harassment protections for religion in key areas of public life, including service provision, education, and public functions.
  • The lack of a legal route to bring combined discrimination claims, meaning that intersecting prejudice — for example, against Muslim women — is not properly recognised or addressed.

 

Why This Matters

 

Muslim workers, particularly Muslim women, face some of the largest pay gaps and employment penalties in the UK. Government statistics and independent research show that:

 

  • Muslim men and women earn significantly less than White Christian counterparts, even after accounting for education, occupation, and region.
  • Muslim women face compounded disadvantage due to gendered Islamophobia, with evidence of bias at recruitment, progression, and pay negotiation stages.
  • Overrepresentation of Muslims in outsourced, insecure, and subcontracted roles limits access to equal pay comparisons, making it harder to challenge disparities.

 

Without reform, these patterns will remain embedded, and the Equality Act will continue to deliver unequal protection for equal harms.

Our Key Recommendations

 

We have called on the Government to:

 

    1. Amend s9 Equality Act 2010
      Explicitly include multi-ethnic religious groups such as Muslims within the statutory definition of race. This would align legal protections with the reality of racialised religious discrimination and ensure parity with other ethno-religious groups like Jews and Sikhs.

 

    1. Extend equal pay provisions to religion or belief
      Allow workers to compare their pay with that of colleagues of a different religion or belief doing equivalent work, just as they can for gender, race, and disability. This would help address the entrenched pay gap affecting Muslims, particularly Muslim women.

 

    1. Mandate pay gap reporting and equal pay audits for race, religion, and disability
      Use the existing gender pay gap framework to require transparency and action plans, enabling employers, regulators, and the public to monitor disparities and track progress over time.

 

    1. Close harassment protection gaps for religion
      Amend the Equality Act to ensure that harassment protections for religion or belief apply consistently across public functions, service provision, premises, and education — mirroring the coverage already in place for race.

 

    1. Reinstate and strengthen combined discrimination provisions
      Restore the ability to bring intersectional claims, such as race + religion or gender + religion, so the law can capture and remedy the compound nature of discrimination faced by groups such as Muslim women.

 

    1. Reform outsourcing provisions
      Amend the law so outsourced and subcontracted workers can compare their pay with in-house staff of the principal employer where the work is substantively equivalent. This is essential in sectors where Muslims are overrepresented in outsourced roles.

 

 

Next Steps

 

We stressed that any future reform of equality law must ensure coherence and parity of protection across all protected characteristics. For Muslims, this means recognising the reality of racialised religious discrimination and ensuring legal protections match those available to other racialised religious groups.

 

M-Legal will continue to engage with policymakers, parliamentary committees, and partner organisations to press for reforms that make the Equality Act genuinely inclusive, enforceable, and capable of addressing the most entrenched inequalities in the UK labour market and public life.

 

For further information, please contact: enquiries@m-legal.org.

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